Soft Touch

Following last September's terror attacks in the US, fashion designers were subdued in their spring-summer collections. This year, Japan's designers are letting their creative juices flow for the 2002-2003 autumn-winter look with the emphasis on casual romance, modern punk and light classical. What does all that mean? Metropolis reporters spent three weeks at the Tokyo collections to find out.

	Wonderful World
No matter what's going on in the world, Isao Kaneko always looks on the bright side with his Wonderful World label. In tribute to the resilience of the US following the terrorist attacks, his show opened with curly-haired models, clad in flashy Stars and Stripes outfits and holding teddy bears. Then came the Kaneko signature clothes—colorful layered skirts, lace petticoats, camisoles, printed knit tops and casual pants.The finale was a billowing pink wedding dress. As usual, Kaneko's legions of women fans in the audience attended the show dressed in his cute outfits as if they had just come from a costume call for Little Bo Peep.

	Yukiko Hanai

Primitive Roman was the theme for Yukiko Hanai, who included lots of sexy see-through evening and daywear in her 79-piece collection, with the emphasis on chiffon, ruffles and leather. Many outfits mixed masculine and feminine styles with black, gray and wine the standout colors. Crocheted skirts were pencil-slim and flowing, mostly ending below the knee and worn over boots. Fox and chinchilla coats were common, while taffetas were strategically placed on see-through chiffon blouses.

	Hiroko Koshino

As always, Hiroko Koshino drew on Central Asia for inspiration and merged it with traditional Japanese looks for her innovative collection that combined vintage designs from the '30s and '40s with more modern materials. The veteran designer's 117-piece collection was divided into eight sections—haute couture denim, vintage masculine, modern punk, oriental flowers, folklore elves, romantic punk, rebirth and lotus soiree. Skirts and tops, often looking like they were unfinished, were matched with pants. Black and red dominated the show, while metallic belts and some conical headwear stood out among the accessories.

Yuki Torii

Rayon and pleated skirts over pants or leggings with full-length coats highlighted Yuki Torii's collection, which featured everything from pret-a-porter to haute couture. Blues, browns, indigo and khakis dominated the show with many outfits consisting of many layers. Leather coats lined with rabbit fur lapels, cardigans worn with print and knit tops over lustrous and striped pants, were the casual look. Jackets were dyed in different patches. Black one-piece dresses and black pants with off-the-shoulder tops were daring evening wear, but not nearly as daring as the long black outfit opened at the front down to the navel, precariously held together by a red ribbon.

With the theme "Masculine Heart," Mika Kinoshita created a casual yet tailored collection of white cotton shirts, cropped peacoats and slim velvet pants for her Io Sono Io label. Sheer white, sandy beige, army green and dark browns dominated the collection. Feminine touches to the mostly masculine look came in the form of ruffled plackets, fringed jackets and hot pants. With black-and-white herringbone and plaid knits rounding out the show, Io Sono Io evoked a season of cozy nights spent relaxing in front of a roaring fire.

	Kyoko Higa

It seems Tokyo has gone gaga over casual, neo-Bohemian street style. Kyoko Higa, an Aoyama-based designer better known for sharp, pret-a-porter apparel, has pulled out the thin cotton, Tyrolean knits, floral head scarves and bell-bottoms, all in brown and off-white hues, for her latest autumn/winter offering. Thrown in with some high fashion accessories—fox stoles, diamante-encrusted pumps, loose silk overtops—the designs worked, combining the simple charm of the contemporary boho look with some edgy and curious trimmings. The show's emphasis later returned to Higa's more trademark designer evening wear, though apart from some par-for-the-course black silk dresses with plunging necklines, the color range remained earthy browns and oranges, with knee high boots, leather skirts and wool knits the order of the day.

	Chinami Kamishima

Chinami Kamishima's exhibition featured the familiar combination of yellow and lime green against dark, glossy outerwear, mostly long coats. A touch of traditional sumo fashion was conveyed through the bottom-heavy garments, while modernism also played a part with meshed coveralls indicative of the latest "romantic casual" style sported by the youthful generation. Otherwise, creased suits, leather skirts and woolly sweaters came in all shades of signature gray, while some designs were exclusively psychedelic, blending well with the exotic jungle music playing in the foreground.

Akiko Ogawa titled her collection for a Primary"Frosty Flowers." At times, it looked more like a spring-summer collection than autumn-winter, with materials such as silk and chiffon bringing a brightness and a softness to a normally cold sentimental season. Symmetrical skirts and chiffon or silk dresses were worn with ankle-strap, heeled shoes and pants were adorned with a silk ribbon at the waist. Sharp black suits were combined with blue-striped frilled shirts. A washed antique touch corduroy jacket with white silk frilled skirt was an unusual combination, but added a fresh look to the season's gray image.
	Akiko Ogawa

Punkish super-bitch-style designer Mug sent out her girls-with-attitude staring through heavy '80s fringes in laddered stockings and baggy leather boots for her G.V.G.V. label. Layers were key here and were comprised of oversized knits, frayed denim, string vests, checked shirts, and the brand's skull-and-crossbones T-shirts in night-shirt size. A spectacular speckled-knit dress with matching drag-in-the-dirt scarf, three-quarter-(calf)-length cardigan and Statue of Liberty-design pullover showed off Mug's flair for knitwear. The US tribute continued with New York skyscraper print sweaters and a Stars-and-Stripes stadium jacket. With plenty of black and attitude to spare, this collection was perfect for Tokyo's punk rocker set.

	Royal Chie

At Royal Chie, there was fur, fur and more fur. Chie Imai thinks it should be used for more than just coats: there were fur pants, both long and short, fur bras, fur tops, fur hats, fur boots and lots of frills. Russian sable, mink and chinchilla dominated the show, with outfits coming in mainly black, brown, yellow and gold. You'll need lots of zeroes in your bank account for some of these outfits.

Formerly of the Issei Sports family and a long-time fashion veteran, Tsumori Chisato launched her collection with a tribute to the wayward bands of gypsies and a nod to sleek, chic lines of early 20th-century fashion. Light and airy peasant blouses sported a cacophonous patchwork of colors and patterns, including checks, polka dots and stripes. Although loose cuts and flows characterized the clothes, wide belts accentuating narrow hips gave '60s and '70s style a modern twist, with poignant turbans and ropes adding that extra oomph. But peasant chic switched to dapper flapper as Chisato's dramatic winter line was unveiled. Masculine retro suits in gray, with pinstripes and tails, were softened with A-line cuts or low belts, while the evening wear alluded to the glamour of cinema, with opened backed dresses and white fur capes.